Telephone conversation with President of France Emmanuel Macron

Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron.

February 16, 2019

18:00

The discussion focused on the situation in Syria. Vladimir Putin informed Emmanuel MacronMacron EmmanuelPresident of France
about the agreements reached in Sochi at the February 14 meeting of the heads
of states, guarantors of the Astana process for facilitating the Syrian peace
settlement. The parties noted the need to promote the intra-Syrian political
dialogue and to launch the work of the Constitutional Committee as soon as possible.

Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron discussed the developments in northeastern
Syria and in the Idlib de-escalation zone. The President of Russia cited the available
data on the militants’ preparations to stage provocations with the use of chemical
agents.

The parties expressed mutual commitment to continuing Russian-French
contacts on Syria in order to facilitate the peace settlement and assist in the country’s return to peaceful life.

While exchanging views on Ukraine, Vladimir Putin drew Emmanuel Macon’s
attention to the anti-Russia campaign by the Kiev authorities, which has
intensified in the run-up to the March presidential election. He stressed that the Ukrainian side’s actions, including their decision to ban Russian observers
from the election and not to set up polling stations in Russia, run contrary to universally accepted democratic norms and OSCE principles.

An emphasis was made on the mutual commitment to further joint work,
including in the Normandy format, to promote the settlement of the internal
Ukrainian crisis.